Restaurant review: AOI (Japanese)

This new Japanese restaurant look small for sure. But a simple, inexpensive glass teacup that holds my favourite Japanese genmaicha tea reveals volumes about this five-month-old eatery. Which brings me to the question: when a chef adapts a foreign cuisine to suit the Indian palate, does it topple the food into inauthenticity and unacceptability? Read on to find out more about Bandra’s brand new ‘Aoi’ (pronounced Aweee) to get the answer.

We had dined here a month ago and even then, the eatery was packed. This time, I ate alone at the bar (facing the small kitchen) and shot the dishes right there. I sat elbow-to-elbow with Divya Nagarajan (who’s been eating here twice a week and loves it as does Aishorjyo Ghosh). It was a Sunday (and I came here after enjoying the fabulous French national day) and the restaurant was packed.

FOODChef Vinod Garde imports all the ingredients, serves up sushi, sashimi, donburi, udon, gyoza, tempura grills and more. He frankly admits to always keeping the Indian palate in mind. He may have never been to Japan but he sure knows his Indian diner’s preferences well. And so, he rolls out one surprise after another… the Italy-inspired sushi with its pesto and springy bocconcini and cherry tomatoes leaves no leaf unturned, uses plenty of cilantro and fresh basil too. Vegetarian sushi (soft with cream cheese and shitake, crunchy with cucumber and alfalfa) is a delight. It’s the maki sushi clasping the crunchy tempura prawn that comes out tops. Ask for the signature sushi platters (four types three pieces each `750 veg, `900 non-veg.)

Must ask for the VFM Bento boxes (a complete meal for Rs 450 with soup, rice, sushi and a main course too). Succulent teriyaki chicken on skewers and a well-made Chillean sea bass are highlights.

Can quinoa and the cabbage stuffed gyoza actually taste good? Yes.

As do the dessert marriages of cheesecake with wasabi and crème brulee with citrus notes of uzu.

MINUS POINTS

Aoi’s menu of 60 dishes has only 15 vegetarian options. We need more. Plenty of tempura (veg and non-veg) though crunchy and tasty could do with a lightness and airiness. Some of the flavour calibrations clearly do not work, like the Tokyo chicken dumpling with curry powder. Thick-skinned gyoza and loosely rolled sushi could do with fine-tuning. And the zucchini carpaccio with jalapeno olive oil needs to be more finely sliced. Golden curry with it’s Madras curry powder did not work for me. No Sake. No alcohol either.

MY POINTI like unpretentious restaurants (and people). No complex posturing and nothing fake too. Purists and those looking for glossy dining, stay away. Here’s a neighbourhood eatery which keeps Japan as its compass, but blurs boundaries to please Indian palates and does it well. It keeps the price points low (Rs 450 for a Bento meal, Rs 600 average per head) and manages the tightrope act of adaption well.

SEVEN ATE DAYSWhat a fabulous rained out seven days of eatingabout. And South India reigns sublime. As part of my research for the 2014 Times Food Guide, been tripping out on pillows of soft idli with dollops of freshly churned safed makhan in Madras Café (Matunga). My most favourite Southern Spices from Chennai has come to Mumbai’s Masala Kraft (Taj Palace), vibrant spicing and amazing flavours from Andhra, Karnataka, Chettinad, Kerala ricochet my tastebuds. Tantalisingly spicy kane bezule from Mangalore, kori roast of the Bunt community and Hemant Oberoi’s (who is just back from representing India at the ‘World Curry Week’ in the UK) “Bomlette” dazzle. It is a Bombay omelette encasing a boiled egg drizzled with sauce. I eat the non-veg thali (pay Rs 2,500) alone and plan to go back for one more fix, before Sunday as that is the last day of Southern Spice here. I check out San Qi (Four Seasons) on a Saturday lunch. Yumcha on Saturday which is an unlimited feast of all four menus (Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Indian). In one long lunch, I get to sample over 60 dishes and pay Rs 1,800 per head.

Some years ago, Bela Dalal had introduced me to the crazily addictive Royce chocolates from Hokkaido, Japan, and now I get to taste them again as Avni Raheja and Samir Gadhok bring them to Mumbai’s Palladium. And then at Gaylord (Churchgate), it’s the chicken makhanwala spiked with kasoori methi which delights as much as our ‘Whats Hot Tasting Session’ here. More than 20 home entrepreneurs bring their fabulous creations for tasting. From unique heat-to-eat dishes from Rita and Pankti Chedda to flamboyant molecular gastronomy from Pooja Raheja’s Eat Drink Design, homeopath Nimmi Torani’s fat-free mithai and more.

Much more. I try them all. Gulshan Grover takes time off from his four films which are releasing, to come and cheer these home entrepreneurs. Watch this space…

P.S. Should you want to be invited to the Whats Hot Tasting Sessions and be included in this column and The Times Food Guide 2014, please email rashmiudaysingh2014@gmail.com, Twitter @rashmiudaysingh, phone 77380 22873.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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World Gourmand Award winner Rashmi Uday Singh is the author of India's first-ever city restaurant guide. Singh studied law and management, and worked as a deputy commissioner with the Indian Revenue Service, which she quit after 15 years to train with the BBC. Singh has written 22 books on food, night life and people. She hosts TV shows and writes columns for Bombay Times and Chennai Times. She promises this blog will be as much fun as eating out with her, at a range of exciting places in India and abroad.

World Gourmand Award winner Rashmi Uday Singh is the author of India's first-ever city restaurant guide. Singh studied law and management, and worked as a d. . .